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How Bad Is Iran’s Oil Situation?

The U.S. government has continued its attempts to shut down Iran’s oil exports, and in recent days Iranian officials responded by threatening to block the Strait of Hormuz. Such an outcome is highly unlikely, but the war of words demonstrates how quickly the confrontation is escalating.

Oil prices spiked in late June when a U.S. State Department official said that countries would be expected to cut their imports of oil from Iran down to “zero.” The official also suggested that it would be unlikely that the Trump administration would grant any waivers.

This hard line stance fueled a rally in oil prices as the oil market was quickly forced to recalibrate expected losses from Iran, with a general consensus changing from a loss of around 500,000 bpd by the end of the year, to something more like 1 million barrels per day (mb/d), or even as high as 2.0 to 2.5 mb/d in a worst-case scenario in which all countries comply.

That led to a dialing back of the rhetoric from the Trump administration, or so it seemed. A follow-up statement from the State Department suggested that the U.S. government would work with countries on a “case-by-case basis” to lower Iranian oil imports. High oil prices seemed to put pressure on Washington.

But for now, there is no policy shift. “I think there's going to be very few waivers. That's what we're hearing all the time from officials across the administration. I think it's a very strong policy decision,” Brenda Shaffer, an adjunct professor at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service, told Oilprice.com.

Time will tell, but early evidence suggests that the Trump administration is having success convincing top buyers of Iranian crude to curtail their purchases.

South Korea reportedly plans on zeroing out its imports of oil from Iran in August, according to Reuters. Sources told Reuters that Japan plans on buying oil from Iran for the next few months, but will likely come under pressure to cut imports as the November deadline approaches.

Iran managed to keep exports from being adversely affected in June, with volumes mostly unchanged, although higher condensate exports offset a decline in crude oil exports, according to S&P Global Platts. Export flows to Europe fell sharply as European refiners cut back, which is significant since Europe accounts for about a third of Iranian sales. South Korea, Japan and Taiwan bought more Iranian oil in June, offsetting the decline to Europe. But, as mentioned before, South Korea plans on eliminating those purchases later this summer.

The real battle will be convincing India and China to play along. India has reportedly advised its domestic refiners to prepare for a “drastic reduction or zero” imports from Iran. China, for now, remains in defiance of U.S. demands, and Beijing doesn’t recognize U.S. sanctions on Iran.

The European Union, which still hopes to keep alive the nuclear deal with Iran, had initially hoped to shield Iran from the worst effects of U.S. sanctions. The foreign ministers of the UK, China, France, Germany and Russia held talks on July 6 with Iran’s foreign minister in an effort to keep the nuclear accord alive. But that will only be possible if Iran can receive the benefits of the deal, which includes exporting oil. The group of world powers hope to put together an economic package that helps Iran enough to keep Iran in compliance with the nuclear deal.

But it will be a difficult task since European companies are walking away from Iran even as their governments insist they will support their investments. “What I hear from oil and gas companies, no one is taking a risk from being cut off from the U.S. financial market. So I think there's a really big gap between what foreign governments are saying and what companies are saying,” Brenda Shaffer of Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service said. She cited the case of Total SA, the French oil giant that pulled out of Iran despite assurances from European governments that they would be protected from U.S. sanctions.

All of that is to say that by all accounts, a significant chunk of Iranian oil exports will be interrupted over the second half of this year. The economic pain will add even more pressure on a government that is already struggling with an increasingly restive populace.

One other thing to keep an eye on are the protests underway in Iran. “The demonstrations taking place in Iran are very very serious, and many of them right now are focused in the oil producing areas. Over the weekend there were incredible demonstrations in Abadan, which is like the heartland of Iranian oil production,” she said. “So we might have two things going on, which is not just the limitations on the exports, but they might have some serious production problems if these demonstrations continue to escalate. I think that is something that is completely realistic.”

Either way, as oil exports start to feel the pinch, Iran’s back could be against the wall. Iranian officials said this week that they might block the Strait of Hormuz if their oil exports are blocked. “Around 17 million barrels per day or 35 percent of all seaborne oil exports pass through the strategic waterway and, needless to say, such a move would propel oil prices well into triple figures,” Stephen Brennock, oil analyst at PVM Oil Associates, said in a research note.

“A blockade of this transport route would thus have dramatic consequences for global oil supply and an impact on prices that is almost impossible to put into figures,” Commerzbank wrote in a note.

Iran has threatened this before and the recent statements are likely a bit of bluster. Such a drastic move would not only provoke a response, likely from the U.S. Navy, but it would also be self-defeating since much of Iran’s trade also goes through the Strait. "The country that would suffer the most from the Strait of Hormuz being cut off would be Iran. It’s a muted threat. Because it's like ‘I'm going to threaten my trade if you don't allow my trade,’” Shaffer said.

Let us first sort the wheat from the chaff. I have been saying since President Trump walked away from the Iran nuclear deal and asserted his attention to re-introduce sanctions on Iran that Iran will not lose a single barrel of oil as a result of US sanctions. Iran’s trump card is the petro-yuan which has virtually nullified the effectiveness of US sanctions. Major customers like the European Union (EU), China, India, Turkey, Russia and Japan are still committed to continue importing Iranian crude. If the EU countries succumb to US pressure, then China and the petro-yuan will come to the aid of Iran. Given the current tense political and trade relations between the US and China, the Chinese will be only happy to oblige. Moreover, Iran now may rely on a fleet of Chinese supertankers, properly insured, to export its own oil.

Furthermore, Iran already has barter trade agreement with Russia, India and Turkey. Under these agreements, it will exchange oil for food stuffs and other goods. Moreover, it will be paid in petro-yuan for its oil exports to China, euro for its exports to EU and yen for its exports to Japan thus totally bypassing the petrodollar.

Two more important points why the sanctions will fail. One is that although the Iranian are demonstrating against high prices and low employment, they are a proud nation which when faced with foreign challenges or threats from the United States (in their eyes it is the Satan personified) they take a united action to meet the threat or challenge. The second is that the United States is so hated around the world and considered a bully that the overwhelming nations of the world will ignore the US call to halt imports of Iranian crude with the exception possibly of South Korea and Taiwan both of which owe their independence to US troops.

If the EU countries don’t meet Iran’s minimum conditions of continued purchase of Iranian crude and European investment in Iran, then Iran may walk away from the nuclear deal and accelerate its nuclear activities including fast-enriching uranium. In such a scenario, the alternative could be war with the United States and Israel.

Iran’s threat to block or mine the Strait of Hormuz should be taken seriously. It is enough for Iran to threaten sinking one oil tanker crossing the Strait to stop the oil tankers from around the world crossing the Strait even with US navy escort. Moreover, most of the major global insurance companies could withdraw the insurance cover of the tankers in the face of Iranian threats thus preventing them from crossing the Strait.

Last but not least, nobody should underestimate Iran’s ability to sabotage major Saudi oil installations including the Ras Tannura, the world’s biggest crude oil loading terminal.

It is an automatic axiom, that whenever sanctions are introduced at the semi- or global level, the black market will flourish. Accordingly, Iran has nothing to fear but earn even more due to the automatic black market activated. The P5 minus U.S. plus Germany approves the Iran deal. The Trump Administration is simply stupid in dreaming sanctions will be effective. Look, Iran has the Caspian Sea where U.S. cannot nudge in with its warships. Through these Caspian ports Iran’s oil will be happily consumed by the Black Market. U.S. can do nothing about it if oil will continually to flow to Turkey and elsewhere radiantly.

Open, ill-thought threat blast is far different from harsh realities. Trump intimidation will turn out a big balloon blast. Affected oil companies are those susceptible to U.S. laws, but not the rest energy companies on Globe that have the biggest energy sources. Have you noticed that ever since Trump’s take over, Saudi Arabia is actively collaborating with Russia on energy matters despite Syria crisis? Even Big Oil masters have a formidable international market labyrinth in spot-oil control that Trump cannot touch. Open trade war à la Trump is U.S. self-imposed economic doom in principle leading to U.S. self-isolation. But Big Oil in its own interest will stay out of it. So, Quo Vadis Rocket Trump? A real estate man has failed to comprehend these trade complexities to discern their logical conclusions.

Perfectly sensible approach to the problem. In addition, by having the corporations of other nations boycott Iran, this action will hit directly at those corporations.

Perkins on July 12 2018 said:

The Chinese financial system is unraveling. A torrent of defaults is proceeding due to China's refusal to balance trade with USA. If China continues to purchase Iran's oil then selective targeting of Chinese trading banks will push the Chinese financial system into utter collapse. Chinese should dust off their rickshaws. China's domestic market cannot replace mercantile export surpluses that have ended.

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